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Neil Lennon

Personal information
Full name	Neil Francis Lennon
Height	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Celtic (manager)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1989–1990	Manchester City	1	(0)
1990–1996	Crewe Alexandra	147	(15)
1996–2000	Leicester City	170	(6)
2000–2007	Celtic	214	(3)
2007–2008	Nottingham Forest	18	(0)
2008	Wycombe Wanderers	9	(0)
Total		561	(26)
International career
	Northern Ireland U21	2	(0)
	Northern Ireland U23	2	(0)
	Northern Ireland B	1	(0)
1994–2002	Northern Ireland	40	(2)
Managerial career
2010–	Celtic
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Neil Francis Lennon (born 25 June 1971) is a former footballer from Northern Ireland. He is the current manager and former captain of Celtic.

Club career

Born in Lurgan, County Armagh, after joining Manchester City as a trainee in 1987, Lennon played for Crewe Alexandra and Leicester City, before moving to Celtic in December 2000. Lennon became Celtic captain in 2005.

When his former club Leicester sacked Craig Levein, Lennon was linked with a return to the Midlands side in a player-manager role. He went on record saying he was flattered but wanted to captain Celtic to the Scottish Premier League title.

Although he was also linked with a possible move to Crystal Palace in a player/coach role in the summer of 2006, on 23 June 2006, Celtic announced he had signed a new one-year contract. Sunderland manager Roy Keane made an attempt to sign Lennon prior to the closure of the August 2006 transfer window, but his approach for the player was rejected by Celtic. On 25 April 2007, Lennon announced he would be leaving Celtic, and in his last game for the club on 26 May 2007, he captained the team to victory in the Scottish Cup Final against Dunfermline Athletic. Celtic's 1–0 win clinched the League and Cup Double.

Lennon joined Nottingham Forest on a one-year contract with an option for a second year on 12 June 2007. He made his debut captaining the side in a 0–0 draw at home to Bournemouth. He missed a week's training with Forest because of family reasons in Scotland and lost his place in the team as a consequence.

Lennon joined Wycombe Wanderers on 31 January 2008, leaving on 3 April to take up a coaching role with Celtic.

International career

Lennon was capped 40 times by Northern Ireland, scoring two goals. He also captained the team.

Lennon decided to retire from international football in August 2002 upon receiving a death threat before a Northern Ireland match against Cyprus. The threats came after his alleged claim that he wanted to play for a team representing a United Ireland. The threat was allegedly made by the Loyalist Volunteer Force, although the organisation later denied this.

International goals

Scores and results list Northern Ireland's goal tally first

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	5 October 1996	Belfast, Northern Ireland	Armenia	1–0	1–1	1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
2	18 October 1998	Belfast, Northern Ireland	Moldova	2–2	2–2	UEFA Euro 2000 qualification

Management and coaching career

Lennon was linked with the vacant manager's job at Hibernian after the resignation of John Collins, but the job was given to Mixu Paatelainen. Lennon's first coaching appointment was as first team coach with Celtic in 2008. After the appointment of Tony Mowbray as Celtic manager, Lennon took charge of the Celtic reserve team.

Following Mowbray's departure from Celtic on 25 March 2010, Lennon was appointed caretaker manager for the remainder of the 2009–10 season. He appointed former team-mate Johan Mjällby as his assistant. Celtic won all of their remaining league games under Lennon, including wins over Kilmarnock, Hibernian, and Rangers, but they lost 2–0 to Scottish First Division side Ross County in the Scottish Cup.

Lennon was appointed manager of Celtic on a full time basis on 9 June 2010. On 28 July, in Lennon's first competitive game as full time manager, Celtic lost 3–0 away to S.C. Braga in the UEFA Champions League.

Personal life

In September 2008, it was reported that Lennon was the victim of an assault whilst in the West End of Glasgow. His attackers were subsequently charged, found guilty and jailed for two years each on 16 January 2009.

Lennon has also spoken frankly about having battled depression since 2000.

Honours

Leicester City

• Winner
  • League Cup: 1996–97, 1999–2000
• Runner-up
  • League Cup: 1998–99

Celtic

• Winner
  • Scottish Premier League: 2000–01, 2001–02, 2003–04, 2005–06, 2006–07
  • Scottish Cup: 2000–01, 2003–04, 2006–07
  • Scottish League Cup: 2000–01, 2005–06
• Runner-up
  • Scottish Cup: 2001–02
  • Scottish League Cup: 2002–03
  • UEFA Cup: 2002–03

Managerial statistics

As of 14 August 2010

Team	Nat	From	To	Record
				P	W	D	L	GF	GA	Win %
Celtic	Scotland	25 March 2010	Present	12	10	0	2	22	12	083.33
Total				12	10	0	2	22	12	083.33

References

1. Hugman, Barry J. (2005). The PFA Premier & Football League Players' Records 1946-2005. Queen Anne Press. p. 367. ISBN 1852916656.
2. Celtic appoint Neil Lennon as manager Celtic F.C., 9 June 2010
3. Tony Mowbray leaves Celtic Celtic F.C., 25 March 2010
4. ^ "Profile: Neil Lennon". BBC Sport. 22 August 2002. Retrieved 2 April 2010.
5. "Lennon seals Celtic move". BBC Sport. 9 December 2000. Retrieved 28 August 2009.
6. "Lennon plays down Leicester link". BBC Sport. 27 January 2006. Retrieved 25 August 2007.
7. "Crystal Palace open Lennon talks". BBC Sport. 20 June 2006. Retrieved 20 June 2006.
8. "Celtic 1-0 Dunfermline Athletic". Raidió Teilifís Éireann. 26 May 2007. Retrieved 2 April 2010.
9. "Lennon signs for the Reds". BBC Sport. 12 June 2007. Retrieved 12 June 2007.
10. "Neil Lennon's Official Blog". MonTheHoops CSC. Retrieved 2 April 2010.
11. "Veteran Lennon signs for Wycombe". BBC Sport. 31 January 2008. Retrieved 31 January 2008.
12. Bean, Graham (26 March 2010). "In from cold, forgotten man Neil Lennon is back on centre stage". The Scotsman. Johnston Press Digital Publishing. Retrieved 2 April 2010.
13. "Lennon delighted with reception". ESPNsoccernet. 25 March 2001. Retrieved 25 March 2010.
14. "Who really threatened to kill Neil Lennon?; Making death threats | Sunday Herald". Find Articles. 25 August 2002. Retrieved 25 March 2010.
15. "Programmes | World at One | Driven out by hate". BBC News. 22 August 2002. Retrieved 25 March 2010.
16. "Easter Road job interests Lennon". BBC Sport. 21 December 2007. Retrieved 21 December 2007.
17. "Exclusive: Lenny comes home". Celtic F.C. Retrieved 25 March 2010.
18. Arthurlie's Celtic clash called-off Paisley Daily Express, 5 January 2010
19. "Celtic part company with manager Tony Mowbray". BBC Sport. 25 March 2010. Retrieved 25 March 2010.
20. "Celtic 3-1 Kilmarnock". BBC Sport. 27 March 2010. Retrieved 27 March 2010.
21. Martin Conaghan (4 April 2010). "Hibernian 0 - 1 Celtic". BBC Sport. Retrieved 15 April 2010.
22. "Neil Lennon slams the lack of Celtic hunger and desire". BBC Sport. 27 March 2010. Retrieved 15 April 2010.
23. Celtic appoint Neil Lennon as their new manager Times Online, 9 June 2010
24. "Braga 3 - 0 Celtic". BBC Sport. 2010-07-28. Retrieved 2010-07-29.
25. "Celtic's Lennon hurt in assault". BBC News. 1 September 2008. Retrieved 1 September 2008.
26. "'Brutal' Lennon attackers jailed". BBC News. 16 January 2009. Retrieved 16 January 2009.
27. Lennon's 'pride' over depression Herald Scotland, 24 February 2007

External links

• Neil Lennon at Soccerbase

• Misplaced Pages introduction cleanup from March 2010
• 1971 births
• Living people
• People from Lurgan
• Armagh Gaelic footballers
• Northern Ireland under-21 international footballers
• Northern Ireland B international footballers
• Northern Ireland international footballers
• Association footballers from Northern Ireland
• Expatriate footballers in England
• Expatriate footballers in Scotland
• Association football midfielders
• Gaelic footballers who switched code
• Manchester City F.C. players
• Crewe Alexandra F.C. players
• Leicester City F.C. players
• Celtic F.C. players
• Nottingham Forest F.C. players
• Wycombe Wanderers F.C. players
• Premier League players
• Scottish Premier League players
• The Football League players
• Celtic F.C. non-playing staff
• Football managers from Northern Ireland
• Celtic F.C. managers